New Orleans passengers may be
found at this website
Because the passenger lists for immigrants arriving at New Orleans
are not neatly assembled all in one place, the following website may
be helpful. Check out:
http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/neworleans.html
It suggests sources both online and off-line for passenger arrivals
at New Orleans. Each item mentioned is evaluated and explained.
There are links to other websites for things not onsite.
Thanks to the Immigrant Genealogical Society for this information.
They are at P. O. Box 7369, Burbank, CA 91510-7369.

Did you have an ancestor in the Lewis & Clark Expedition?
If you have an ancestor in the Lewis & Clark Expedition, you are
eligible to receive a "Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery Descendant
Certificate." This new group has been started by the Clatsop Co.,
Oregon Genealogical Society. Certificates are available for
collateral descendants, too.

Information collected from
qualifying genealogists will be stored permanently in the archives
of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc. Library in
Great Falls, Montana. The Clatsop Genealogical Society also intends
to publish the information in book form after the 200th anniversary
of the start of the expedition on May 22, 2004.

Herman Obelweiss left me what?
This is a REAL will!
Will of Herman Obelweiss:
I am writing of my will mineselluf. That dam lawyer want he should
have too much money. He asked to many answers about family.
First thing I want. I don't want my brother Oscar have a dam ting
what I got. He done me out of forty dollars fourteen years since.
I want that Hilda, my sister, she gets the north sixtie akers of at
where I am homing it now. I bet she don't get that loafer husband of
hers to broke twenty akers next plowing time. She can't have it if
she lets Oscar live on it. I want it I should have it back if she
does.
Tell Mama that six hundred dollars she been looking for for twenty
years is berried from the backhouse, behind, about ten feet down.
She better let little Frederick do the digging and count it when he
comes up.
Pastor Lucknitz can have three hundred dollars if he kiss that book
he won't preach no more dumhead polotiks. He should have a roof put
on the meetinghouse with (it) and the elders should the bills look
at.
Momma the rest should get but I want it that Adolph shud tell her
what not she do - so no more slick Irishers sell her vokum cleaners.
Dy (they?) Noise like hell and a broom don't cost so much.
I want it that my brother Adolph should be me execter and I want it
that the Jedge make Adolph plenty bond put up - and watch him like
hell. Adolph is a good business man but only a dumkoph would trust
him with a busted pfenning.
I want dam sure that schlemic, Oscar, don't nothing get. Tell Adolph
he can have a hundred dollars if he prove to Jedie (that) Oscar
don't get nothing. Tham dam sure fix Oscar.
/s/ Herman Obelweiss.
Thanks to Dick Rumage for submitting this to the Lake Havasu
Genealogical Society, Inc. Newsletter, P. O. Box 953, 1750 N.
McCulloch Boulevard, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86405-0953.

Ellis Island website has one-step searches
If your ancestors entered America at Ellis Island, you can find the
records of that entry in the Ellis Island records. For years
genealogists pored over microfilm copies of these records. In recent
years, many of the records (but not all) have been transcribed into
computer databases, and extracts of the original records are
available at
http://www.EllisIsland.org.

The Ellis Island website has
become one of the most popular genealogy sites online. It is very
easy to use, although the search mechanism is not perfect.
Variations in the spelling of names can often lead to difficulties.
(Contrary to popular belief, names were almost never changed at
Ellis Island. That happened in the months and years after
immigration. The records made at Ellis Island almost always had the
correct spelling from the old country, a name that modern-day
descendants might not be familiar with.)
Another frequently encountered problem resolves around common names:
several hundred or even thousands of people with the same name may
have passed through Ellis Island. Which one is your ancestor?

Stephen Morse has created a series
of online "forms" that can be valuable for narrowing the searches at
EllisIsland.org. The forms include:
* Ellis Island Database white form: Searches all passengers, has
very restricted town search and somewhat restricted sounds-like
search.
* Ellis Island Database (Jewish Passengers) blue form: Searches for
Jewish passengers only - has unrestricted town search and
unrestricted sounds-like search, supports some additional search
parameters.
* Ellis Island Database (Short Form) gray form: Searches all
passengers - has unrestricted town search and unrestricted
sounds-like search, lacks some of the other search parameters.
Town Searches may be conducted using the exact spelling of the town,
by using only the starting letters of the town name, or by "sounds
like" spellings.
Name searches can also be conducted using a "sounds like"
methodology. This is especially good for Slavic and Jewish names
with sounds that do not translate well into the English language.
Again, remember that the names WERE recorded correctly at Ellis
Island, but were often modified later.
Best of all, the researcher can also search for:
* Gender. * Marital status. * Month/day of arrival (year only on
white form). * The person's age at time of arrival. * Ship's name,
starting with a specified string of characters or containing a
specified string of characters (white form requires exact spelling).
*Port names starting with a specified string of characters or
containing a specified string of characters (white form gives you a
partial list of ports from which to select).

If you are searching for Jewish
passengers and you have reason to believe that they were identified
as such in the database, then the blue form is the preferable one to
use. Otherwise, you should use the white or gray form. You use the
gray form if you need to do a flexible search by town, and the white
form if you want to enter such parameters as ethnicity. You'll also
need to use the gray form if you want to do a single search
involving both a town and a name-sounds-like, since you can do
either one but not both on the white form. It might turn out that
you will have to switch back and forth between these forms until you
get the right mix and find the passenger you are searching for.

This great resource from Stephen
Morse recently moved and now can be found at
http://www.stevemorse.org.
Thanks to Eastman's Online Newsletter, 3/24/03, and the Lake Havasu
Genealogical Society, Inc. Newsletter, P. O. Box 953, 1750 N.
McCulloch Boulevard, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86405-0953.

Congratulations! The Lothians celebrate Diamond Anniversary
Lord and Lady Lothian celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary at
Ferniehirst Castle near Jedburgh, Scotland last spring. It was a
happy, but relatively quiet celebration compared to their joint 80th
birthday observance last August when about forty of their immediate
family - children, grandchildren and spouses - assembled for that
grand event at Ferniehirst.

One would guess that the quiet
anniversary day at Ferniehirst was interrupted many, many times by
congratulatory telephone calls from family, friends and well-wishers
all over the British Isles. And the postal deliveries likely were
heavier than usual.

Lord Lothian is Chief of the Name
of Kerr, the title in the Scottish Lowlands for clan chief of the
Kerrs, Carrs, Kers, Karrs and other variant spellings of the name.
The formal titles of Lord and Lady Lothian in the Scottish peerage
are Marquess and Marchioness of Lothian.

Lord Lothian offered , "Sixty
years is a long time, but it has passed too quickly."

It was during World War II when
young Lieutenant Peter Kerr of the Scots Guards wed Antonella
Newland, the daughter of Major General Sir Forster Newland, KCMG,
CB. She had not reached her 20th birthday at the time of the
wedding, although they had grown up together. She was
half-Yorkshire, half-Italian, and was born into an Army family and
spent most of her early life in travel, attending Army school, and
in her mid-teens she lived in Germany not long before the outbreak
of the war. Most of her early married life was spent at Monteviot,
the Kerr estate just north of Jedburgh, when her six children were
young.

Lady Lothian has made her own
career as a prominent journalist. For over a decade she was a
columnist for The Scottish Daily Express and she organized The Woman
of the Year Luncheons in London, which have raised over a million
Pounds for the Greater London Fund for the Blind. She is the
biographer of Russian Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space. In
1997, she received The Order of the British Empire honors at an
investiture at Buckingham Palace, London.

In a Scottish interview Lady
Lothian said, "My husband Peter and I grew up together and so it
seemed quite natural to marry. I'm not a believer in flaming
romances. They don't last.

"When I married it was wartime . .
. my wedding dress was of great excitement. But I had no family
jewels and my new husband went straight back to the Scots Guards
after a week's honeymoon in Scotland."

WNGGA announces 2003 award winners
The Welsh National Gymanfa Ganu Association Scholarship and Grants
Committee is very pleased to announce the recipients of the 2003
awards.

Dr. Mary Williams-Norton of Ripon,
Wisconsin is involved in a cooperative educational project with
Welsh schools. She requested some financial assistance for her group
of 6 student teachers who are traveling to Wales this summer to
further their partnership.

Karen Jones Wojahn of Windom,
Minnesota requested funds to help her attend a Folk Harp Society
Conference in Bloomington, Indiana. In addition to her other musical
accomplishments, Ms. Wojahn wishes to learn to play the Welsh triple
harp and our assistance will pay a portion of her costs.

Cymdeithas Madog was awarded a
grant to assist in the presentation of the Cwrs Cymraeg in Kenosha,
Wisconsin this summer. The St. David's Society of Pittsburgh was
awarded a grant to assist in the establishment of a Welsh
Nationality Classroom at the University of Pittsburgh.

Welsh Gymanfa Ganu Association of
Wisconsin, Dr. Dulais Rhys will be touring the United States this
year, lecturing on Dr. Joseph Parry. As 2003 marks the centenary of
the death of Dr. Parry, the WGGAW requested a grant to bring Dr.
Rhys to Milwaukee to inform them about the life and times of this
great composer.

The Welsh Harp and Heritage
Society of North America requested financial assistance to present
their Welsh Heritage Week in Newport News, Virginia this summer.

The Welsh Society of Northwest
Ohio has turned a donated house into a museum celebrating the Welsh
history of Gomer, Ohio. They requested our assistance as they need
to preserve a large number of documents and items of memorabilia.
Our grant money will be used to buy supplies and storage equipment.

Any group or individual may apply
for assistance with their upcoming projects. The purpose of the
project must be in keeping with the purpose of the Welsh National
Gymanfa Ganu Association.

To be eligible, an individual must
be a member (either life or annual) of the WNGGA, must be of Welsh
lineage and be a citizen of Canada or the United States. A group
must be an organizational life member of the WNGGA, must be
headquartered in Canada or the United States and must be a nonprofit
organization.

The application forms list the
information and documentation that is to be submitted with the
application. Many applications are rejected due to incomplete
documentation or inadequate financial information. Complete
applications must be submitted by March 1, 2004 for consideration
next year.

Are you looking for ancestors from West Prussia or Poland?
Do you have ancestors who lived in West Prussia, (not a province of
Poland), back in the years 1772-1773? If so, they may be listed in
the Land Register for 1772-1773 for that area - if they owned land.

James E. Montgomery, a charter member of the Clan Montgomery
Society International and a powerful member of the St. Andrew's
Society of Maine, passed away quietly Sunday morning May 25, 2003.
Jim died at home surrounded by loving friends and family, with a big
smile and no pain after a 31 year long fight with cancer. First
diagnosed in 1972 with terminal esophageal cancer, he was given six
months to live. Then diagnosed with terminal liver cancer in 1999,
he was given 12 months to live. Strength and courage were redefined
by this Scotsman, but then he was a Montgomery.

Both his parents, James and Davina
(Lees) Montgomery and his brother, David, were all born in Scotland.
James was the first of his family line to be born in America on July
21, 1929 in Rumford, Maine. Jim married Lorraine Ross on October 9,
1950. Jim never made it over to Scotland, but on Sunday, May 25th,
the Scottish weather came to Maine.

Sephardic Genealogy wins great award!
Sephardic Genealogy has won the Association of Jewish Libraries
"Outstanding Reference Book" Award. This is the third book published
by Avotaynu to win this award. The company has released 26 books on
Jewish genealogy since it began publishing in 1991.

Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy
will be published this summer. This comprehensive guide is being
written by more than 60 experts on Jewish genealogy and will consist
of some 100 chapters. Visit
http://www.avotaynu.com/books/guide.htm for more information.
Thanks to the Federation of Genealogical Societies FORUM for this
news. You may contact them at P. O. Box 200940, Austin, TX
78720-0940.

There's even a website about "poorhouses"
The Poorhouse Story is a clearing house for information about 19th
century American poorhouses. The site gives tips for researching
poorhouse records, historical information, and features articles and
genealogy news. Visit the site at
http://www.poorhousestory.com.
This information was shared by the Federation of Genealogical
Societies FORUM, P. O. Box 200940, Austin, TX 78720-0940.

Library authorizes restoration of maps
As a Washington Territory Sesquicentennial Project, the Washington
State Library has authorized the restoration of two maps: (1) an
1897 postal map (showing routes and frequency of delivery); and (2)
an 1881 map of the Department of the Columbia (showing the
present-day states of Washington, Oregon, and parts of Idaho and
Montana with Indian reservations, railroad routes, and wagon roads).
These will be digitized and placed on the State Library's website.
Visit them at
http://www.statelib.wa.gov
Thanks to the following for this information: Federation of
Genealogical Societies FORUM, P. O. Box 200940, Austin, TX
78720-0940.

Databases contain African American records
The Louisiana Slave Database contains 99,419 records and 114 fields
and is part of the "Databases for the Study of Afro-Louisiana
History and Genealogy 1719-1820," compiled and published by Dr.
Gwendolyn Midlo Hall. This resource for Louisiana and Florida
contains a plethora of information concerning the transfer,
enumeration and manumission of slaves in Louisiana and parts of
Florida. Each record represents an individual slave who has been
described in these documents and includes a variety of information,
such as inventoried estates of deceased slaves.

Another database, The Louisiana
Free Database, records documents involving manumissions of slaves.
It contains 4,071 records. With the exception of the slave trade
shipping, it contains all of the fields found in the Louisiana Slave
Database as well as some additional fields.

It is likely that most people
and/or families that lived in Louisiana through 1820 will be
mentioned regardless of race or status in one or both of these
databases. They were created almost entirely from original
manuscript documents found in archives and courthouses throughout
Louisiana, France, Spain and Cuba, and from holdings at the
University of Texas at Austin.

October 4, Ohio, Cleveland: The Genealogical Committee of the
Western Reserve Historical Society announces the last of a series of
beginner's classes with a combination of lecture and hands-on
research in the WRHS Library. Contact Roger Ellsworth, P. O. Box
181201, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118-1201; by telephone 216-283-6451,
or e-mail wrhsgen@juno.com.

October 5-12, Utah, Salt Lake
City: The International Society for British Genealogy & Family
History announces its Third Annual British Institute. The Institute
is a classroom setting of in-depth study. For more information, see
the society's website
http://www.isbgfh.org, send an e-mail to
sbgfh@yahoo.com or send an SASE
to ISBGFH, P. O. Box 3115, Salt Lake City, UT 84110-3115.

October 11-12, Maryland,
Baltimore: The Maryland Genealogical Society will present a
seminar on various aspects of family history. For further details
visit
http://delmarvaroots.com or contact Ed Wright at
edwright@delmarvaroots.com or by telephone 800-576-8608.

October 17-18, Arkansas, Little
Rock: The Arkansas Genealogical Society announces its Fall
Seminar featuring Cyndi Howells. More information can be obtained by
visiting the website
http://www.rootsweb.com>/~args/seminar.htm.

October 17-19, California,
Foster City: The San Francisco Bay Region of the California
State Genealogical Alliance will host "California Conference." More
details can be obtained by e-mailing Cath Trindle
CAConference@aol.com or by
going to the conference website
http://users.lmi.net/catcn/ca_conf.

October 18, Wisconsin,
Wisconsin Dells: Wisconsin State Genealogical Society announces
its Fall 2003 Seminar. Details will be posted at
http://www.wsgs.org.
To receive a program brochure for this seminar, send you name and
address by postal mail to WSGS Office, P. O. Box 5106, Madison, WI
53705 or by e-mail to
wsgs@chorus.net.

October 25, California, Burbank:
The Pommerns Special Interest Group of the Immigrant Genealogical
Society announces its Fall Seminar, featuring Martha and Less Riggle.
For more information, contact Toni Perrone at <perrone@cwia.com>.

October 25, Kansas, Lenexa:
The Johnson County Genealogical Society will host its Annual Seminar
"Getting to Know Your Ancestors" with John Colletta. See the
society's website:
http://www.johnsoncountykansasgenealogy.org for further
information or send an SASE to PO Box 12666, Shawnee Mission, KS
66282-2666.

October 25, Ohio, Independence:
The Cuyahoga County Council of Genealogical Organizations announces
its Annual Tri-C GL Seminar, "Researching the Past: Publishing for
the Future." More information can be obtained by contacting John
Stoika at either 206-524-3472 or <jstoika@juno.com>.

November 1, Illinois, Grayslake:
Lake County Genealogical Society announces its 2003 Fall Conference
with keynote speaker Helen Hinchliff. In addition, Sandra Luebking
and Michael John Neill will also present talks. Additional
information can be found on the society's website
http://www.rootsweb.com>/~illcgs, by writing to Carol Knigge,
Conference Chairperson, at 8206 Penny Lane, Richmond, IL 60071 or by
sending her an e-mail at
caknigge@yahoo.com.

November 6-9, Massachusetts,
North Falmouth: The 7th New England Genealogical Conference "New
England: America's Melting Pot" has been announced. Speakers will
include Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, Sharon Kennedy, John Philip
Colletta, Maureen A. Tayor. For more details about this event
e-mail: cranbor@attbi.com or
see the website
http://www.rootsweb.com>/manergc/queries.

We received this wonderful letter
from Carl Coleman of Warner Robins, Georgia. Mr. Coleman said,
"Years ago I was stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North
Dakota, while in the Air Force. I lived on base with my wife.

"We had our share of dandelions.
Matter of fact, they were taking over. One day I was reading the
Base Newspaper. The Base Commander had an editorial about ways to
combat the dandelion. One way was to make Dandelion Wine and he gave
the recipe.

"Although I haven't tried to make
any wine, I kept the recipe. I thought you all would like to hear
this short story. The article about the dandelions made me think of
the story."

Dandelion Wine: Pick 12 to 16 cups
of flower heads on a sunny day. Put them in a two-gallon container
and cover with a gallon of boiling water. Then stir in 1/2 a pound
of finely diced raisins, 2-1/2 pounds of sugar, a whole chopped
orange and a lemon (both with the peel). Once the liquid has cooled,
mix in 1 ounce wine yeast. You can even get a special Chamblis yeast
for a good dry wine. After the brew has steeped for 4 days in a warm
spot (72-78 degrees), strain the mixture through cheesecloth.
Squeeze the pulp to get out the last of the juice and discard the
pulp. Pour liquid into a crock, cover with fresh cheesecloth, and
let continue to ferment in a warm, dark corner for another three
weeks. Then decant gently into clear bottles. Cork tightly and store
in a cool place for six months or more before drinking.

Thanks, Mr. Coleman, for sharing
this special recipe with us. Mr. Coleman can be reached by mail at
308 Sparta Street, Warner Robins, GA 31088.

The event will be held Saturday,
November 15, 2003 at the Salt River Project Administrative Building
located at 1521 North Project Drive in Phoenix, Arizona. Workshop
time will be 1 PM to 5 PM.

A program and discussion will be
held on publicizing societies and increasing membership. "From Blah
to Bodacious," the program will tell you how to visually make your
presence noticed, and will feature Marian Shepherd and Joel Ayala,
Arizona Capitol Museum Curators, as speakers.

The event is free to all, but
registration is required. There also will be refreshments and raffle
prizes to be enjoyed!

Ronald Douglas passed away on April 27, 2003 after a long
battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife Merle, sons Russell
and Andrew, and daughter Kylie. Ron was born September 9, 1932 in
Queensland, Australia.

Throughout his life he expressed a
strong interest in Scottish culture and participated actively on
many committees in executive positions. Ron received an Australian
Honor, the OAM (Order of Australia Medal) of which he was very
proud. This was for services to the community in which he lived. He
was a founding and Life Member of the Clan Douglas Association of
Australia, as well as Armiger, which meant that he had been granted
his own personal Coat-of-Arms with a shield, crest and the motto
"Onward brave heart" by the Lord Lyon King of Arms in Scotland. This
gave Ron the right to wear an eagle feather in his bonnet and carry
his banner. Under Scottish Law, this is heritable property and the
right to those arms descends to his eldest son and heir.

He was a member of the Company of
Armigers, Australian Chapter, Inc., and had previously served as
Armiger Provincial for Queensland. Being a Fellow of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland, FSA Scot, meant much to Ron as he had been
nominated by the famous Clan Donald historian and genealogist,
Graham MacDonald Esq., formerly of Toowoomba.

Ron was Chieftain and former
President of the Toowoomba Caledonian Society, Past President of the
Clan Douglas Association of Australia, Past President and founding
member of the Scottish Clans Congress of Queensland, member of the
Australian Scottish Heritage Council and Companion of the Sovereign
Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem - The Knights Templar.

Honoring Ron's services to the
Gaels and the Celts, the Celtic Council of Australia awarded him the
medal and title of Duinne Urramach "Honored Gentleman" D.Urr, one of
only twelve ever granted in Queensland. Ron was accredited with the
founding of the Darling Downs Branch of the Society of St. Andrew of
Scotland (Q'ld) and was the Current Vice-President, Life Member,
member of the Board of Governors and Director of the Society of St.
Andrew of Scotland (Q'ld) Inc.

He was a published author and
historian and wrote "The Braw Manawdge," meaning "The Fair Society,"
a history of the Caledonian Society of Toowoomba. A fine
genealogist, a great Scottish country dancer, a manufacturer of
Scottish silver jewelry, a collector of books, artifacts and
antiquities are just some of Ron's achievements.

Mary Weeks Maclean, President of Scottish Heritage USA,
passed away on August 4, 203, following a reoccurrence of cancer.

Mary will be remembered best as
the wife of the indomitable Reverend Dougald Lachlan Maclean, former
Chairman of the Board of Scottish Heritage USA. For more than three
decades Dougald and Mary attended the Grandfather Mountain Highland
Games, where Dougald gave the "Address to the Haggis" at the
patrons' and sponsors' reception on Friday nights and conducted the
church service on Sunday mornings.

Mary was Dougald's right hand,
always there to help smooth the way. They were, in fact,
inseparable. But Mary had another important role in this life - that
of educator. For more than twenty years, Mary dedicated herself to
teaching elementary school in New York, and even after she
officially retired, she returned to work - first as a substitute and
then as a full-time classroom teacher.

Her energy knew no bounds, and she
tackled any and all tasks with dynamite enthusiasm. Whether it was
teaching school, attending to parish affairs, antique hunting on
weekends or enjoying her West Highland Terriers, she infused
everything she did with her great zest for living.

Both she and Dougals loved
Scotland and worked ceaselessly to support both the country and its
ex-patriots in this country. They visited Scotland frequently,
sometimes for pleasure, sometimes on Scottish Heritage USA and
National Trust for Scotland business. Scottish Heritage USA and its
support of the National Trust for Scotland held an important place
in their hearts, and Dougald had been closely involved with the
organization almost from its inception.

In 1986, in recognition of her
many contributions to Scottish Heritage USA, Mary was invited to
join its Advisory Council. In 1990, she became the organization's
secretary, and following Dougald's death in March 2000, she became a
member of the Board of Directors and a Vice-President. Last March,
following A. R. "Pete" Hamilton's retirement as President to become
Chairman of the Board, Mary became Scottish Heritage USA's
President.

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